Flannel Pajamas (2005)

i loved this movie

I don't care what anyone says, I loved this movie and it is not a waste of time kind of movie. I just rented it and fell in love with it. I read another review and they were saying that couples actually enjoy the movie more than single people. It made me appreciate my relationship more. May 29, 2008

Anatomy of a relationship...(3 1/2) stars

The movie starts on Stuart and Nicole's first date. You basically feel as if you are in their relationship because you go through everything with them: the first time they are intimate, family meetings, problems with best friends and family members, their wedding, etc. These moments really kept me with the movie, because no matter how much someone tells you about their relationship, you never see the whole picture. Well, this movie shows you the whole picture, and then some.

Eventually, they start having bigger problems. Something tragic happens in his family, then she wants a child, and he doesn't. She accuses him of "not holding my hand enough," and she starts to pull away from him. This is where it gets a little bit confusing. You are not really sure what started the fact that they are growing apart, but there is a definite difference on how they begin to treat each other. Maybe that's the beauty of the whole thing. It's raw and it's real, there are no fluffy, Hollywood endings in sight.

Even though I liked it, I took away a couple of stars. It started off strongly with good writing and very entertaining story. But, as the movie went on, I lost interest a little bit. It took me a couple of nights to get through the last half hour. I went back and forth when it came to deciding how much I liked this movie. I believe that it had a great start, but it may have gone on for too long.
February 3, 2008

Can this marriage be saved . . .

This is an odd movie about an unlikely couple whose romantic relationship evolves into marriage and then comes unraveled. Paced and structured unlike any Hollywood romance you've ever seen, it is open to a variety interpretations, and its ending is inconclusive. Yes, they break up, but why exactly and whose fault is it? The reasons are both subtle and obvious. Stewart (Justin Kirk) is a rescuer, lifting Nicole (Julianne Nicholson) out of the bonds of poverty and debt, supporting her dream of starting her own catering business, all the time being winning, patient, and loving. Nicole comes from a dysfunctional family - alcoholics and child abusers. Meanwhile, Stewart seems to be making an implausibly handsome living as a marketer, creating false advertising for theatre productions.

The early scenes of nude love-making suggest an open honesty between them that then gradually erodes over time, as they assume more layers of clothing, until Stewart's final declaraton of love is delivered in a suit and tie. By this time, they have had a long-running dispute about when to start having children, they disagree over whether to get a dog, and there's a crisis when Nicole has a miscarriage. Meanwhile, she has accused him of having too few friends, "never listening" and "not holding hands" often enough. His over-confidence perhaps in his ability to heal the wounds life has inflicted on her make him overbearing and too controling. She pulls away from him, fulfilling the judgments of her closest friend and her mother (unapologetically anti-semitic, we discover) that they were never meant for each other. The film finally seems to be saying that no marriage has much of a chance, and if it takes effort for two people to stay together, that's not going to be enough. November 28, 2007

Poignant exploration of a couple's relationship

Flannel Pajamas is a perceptive exploration of a couple's relationship from the heady, lust-driven days of courtship to moving in and marriage. It deals with a couple, Stuart [Justin Kirk] and Nicole [Julianne Nicholson] who seem to be opposites yet are drawn to each other whilst on a blind date, and their feelings for each other grows from passion to love, resulting in marriage. The path of love doesn't run smooth though, for these two individuals have a lot going against them - they are opposites in character and interests, he is Jewish & she is Catholic, and their respective families put added strain on an already fragile relationship.

The story of Stuart and Nicole's navigation through each other's 'baggage' is told with a certain poignancy, and is credibly done, esp with the amazing performance by Julianne Nicholson as the emotionally dependent Nicole. The let down was the wooden, whiny, unconvincing performance by Justin Kirk as the emotionally vacant & self-absorbed Stuart. He seems incapable of expressing his emotions credibly and comes off as very artificial in his acting. Perhaps the role was just too demanding for him.

There is a lot of nudity in this movie, and a couple of full-frontal nude scenes, which I thought was tastefully done, and in fact did not detract from the storytelling. Was it necessary? Perhaps, esp in one scene where Stuart asks Nicole to fully strip for him, and Nicole's reluctance to do so [indicating her own inhibitions & reservations] before feeling forced to comply.

All in all, this is a worthwhile emotional drama that though devoid of humor, paints a compelling portrait of two people who love each other, but find themselves moving in opposite directions, a situation not uncommon in many contemporary relationships. If you're expecting a humorous, upbeat look at love then this is not your cup of tea, but those looking for a more serious take on what makes relationships work or fail, may appreciate Flannel Pajamas. November 5, 2007

Insightful but not likeable enough

Perhaps because I'm in middle age and have gone through a few relationships I could see the mistakes Stuart and Nicole were making all along the way to sabotage their relationship. I admired that in some ways the film was very honest. For instance it is not self-conscious about nudity and sex. When the couple begin to explore sex they simply take off their clothes. They don't walk out of the bathroom wearing bathrobes, the camera doesn't start hiding behind the furniture, etc. At a certain point the film politely draws the curtain, which is appropriate and preferable to the fake sex scenes we usually get in Hollywood movies. Unfortunately, the film's honesty is not enough. I found myself unable to care enough about Stuart and Nicole to stay engaged as their marriage gradually came apart. I found Stuart in particular quite unlikeable. His need to control and his air of self-importance put me off. Neither Stuart nor Nicole reaches out to anyone who could possibly help them. What is the point of Stuart talking to Nicole's girlfriend who doesn't believe in marriage and commitment, or Nicole's mother who has never liked him and tells him bluntly that she won't help? Given that they supposedly care about their relationship is it realistic that they do not reach out to anyone who really might be able to help - a counselor, therapist, minister, rabbi? Perhaps some people allow their relationships to crash and burn in this way, but it ain't pretty and I can't recommend watching it, except perhaps as a cautionary tale. September 6, 2007

More reviews at Amazon.com ...